Storage, display and self service stand



Aug. 30, 1955 c. E. PREVETTE ET AL 2,716,495

STORAGE, DISPLAY AND SELF SERVICE STAND Filed Nov. 9, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS CARL E. PREVETTE BYHOWARD c. PREVETTE I ATTORN Aug. 30, 1955 c. E. PREVETTE ET AL 2,716,495

STORAGE, DISPLAY AND SELF SERVICE STAND Filed Nov. 9, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS CARL E. PREVETTE HOWARD c. PREVETTE BY f ATTORN Y Aug. 30, 1955 c. E. PREVETTE ET AL STORAGE, DISPLAY AND SELF SERVICE STAND 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Filed Nov. 9, 1955 INVENTORS CARL E. PREVETTE BYHOWARD C.

PREVETTE ATTOR Y United States Patent STORAGE, DISPLAY AND SELF SERVICE STAND Carl E. Prevette and Howard C. Prevette, Champaign, Ill. Application November 9, 1953, Serial No. 390,850

2 Claims. (Cl. 211-148) This invention relates to a beverage stand, and particularly to a beverage stand adapted for storage, display and self-service of products, such as, by'way of example, bottled goods.

An object of the invention is to provide a beverage stand which includes a plurality of vertically spaced, hingedly mounted shelf members movable between raised and lowered positions and upon which articles may be supported for storage, display and self-service.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a stand wherein each of the hingedly mounted shelves is provided with means for automatically elevating them when the last article supported thereon has been removed, for thereby rendering complete and easy access to the articles supported on the next lower shelf.

Another object of the invention is to provide a softdrink stand which is comprised of four basic elements or component parts, namely a base, side walls, rear wall, and shelves, said component parts being secured together in a novel manner.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a soft-drink stand having the hereinabove described characteristics and which is wheel mounted for facilitating transportation of the stand from place to place.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and as disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a soft-drink stand embodying the teachings of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the stand of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view taken on line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 3.

With particular reference now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the particular embodiment of the invention shown includes a base generally designated 10, a framework comprising a pair of laterally spaced and upstanding end walls 14, and a rear wall 16 and the numerals 18 denoting shelf members.

Base includes front, rear and side edges 20, 22 and 24, respectively, said edges or legs, as best illustrated in Fig. 3, defining the outer periphery of the base. Article supporting means are provided in spanning engagement with the peripheral edge of base 10, said means comprising a plurality of transverse elements 26 and a plurality of longitudinal elements 28. Elements 26 and 28 may be fixedly secured to the peripheral edge by means of welding for providing a light-weight, sturdy structure.

Each of the end walls 14 includes front, rear and upper edges or legs 30, 32 and 34, respectively, the lower ends of the front and rear legs terminating in loops 36. A pair of laterally spaced rails 31 and 33 are permanently aflixed to side rails 38, said rails 31 and 33 being spaced forwardly of and inclined relative to rear leg 32. As best illustrated in Fig. 1, a plurality of side rails 38 are provided in spanning relationship with the front and rear legs 30 and 32, said side rails being'disposed in substantial spaced parallelism with the upper edge 34.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, rear wall 16 includes top, bottom and end edges or legs 40, 42 and 44, respectively, which define the outer periphery of the rear wall. Cross rails 46 and vertical rails 48 are rigidly and fixedly secured to and carried by the periphery-defining-edges of the rear wall. With particular reference to Figs. 2 and 5, it will be noted that the opposite ends of cross rails 46 are upturned as at 50 for thereby engaging side rails 38 of the end walls 14, as hereinafter more fully explained.

The shelf members 18 are pivotally secured as at 60,

to stub shafts or cross members 62 which are permanently secured to and between adjacent pairs of vertical rails 48 of the rear wall.

As best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, each of the shelf members maycomprise a sheet of suitable material such as plastic, wood, metal or the like, to the rear edge of which a suitable hinge element 64 is mounted whereby each of the shelves will be pivotally mounted for movement between a lowered article supporting, substantially horizontal position, or to a raised position, as indicated in dotted outline on Fig. 1.

Suitable means such as springs 70 are utilized for automatically elevating a shelf from lowered position to elevated position when the last article has been removed therefrom. One end of each of spring members 70 may be suitably secured to an eyelet 72 provided in the end of a bracket 74 secured to and carried by shelf member 18 such as by screws, rivets, bolts or the like, denoted generally by the numeral 76. The other end of the spring engages eyelets 78 secured to and carried by cross rails 46 of the rear wall. 7 p In the preferred embodiment of the invention the forward edge of each of the shelf members is provided with a downwardly projecting abutment 80 dimensioned to engage the upper ends of the articles supported on the next lower shelf for precluding accidental or unintentional removal of articles from the next lower shelf so long as the superjacent shelf is in lowered position.

It will be noted that we have thus provided simple yet highly effective means for automatically elevating a shelf whenever the last article has been removed, for thereby providing free and unobstructed access to articles positioned on the next lower shelf.

In assembling the device the upturned ends 50 of the cross rails 46 are disposed beneath and in engaging relationship with side rails 38 at a location between rails 31 and 33. Bottom edge 42 of the rear wall rests upon longitudinal elements 28 of the base with the lower ends of vertical rails 48 projecting downwardly beyond elements 26 and 28.

Loops 36 are secured relative to the side legs 24 of the base by means of bolts 37 passing through U loops 39 which, as best illustrated in Fig. 6, include a hook-like end 41 which engages the side legs 22.

As best illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a pair of wheels are secured to and carried by base 10, said wheels being rotatably mounted on a common shaft 92 secured to the side edges 24 of the base by means of U brackets 94, note Fig. 7. Wheels 90 are located entirely within the periphery of base 10 being disposed on the inner sides of side edges 24 and between rear edge 22 of the base and the bottom edge 42 of the rear wall. As best illustrated in Fig. 1, rear wall 16 is disposed in forwardly spaced relationship from rear edge 22 of the base.

A second pair of wh'eels denoted generally by the numerals 96 are secured to and carried by the forward end of the base 10, said wheels preferably being of the swivel type.

As best illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be noted that the swivel wheel assembly 96 is such as to elevate the forward end of base 10 above the rear end of base 10, thereby imparting a rearward inclination to the base member for-facilitatingthe stacking of bottled goods thereon.

In the preferredembodiment of theinvention each of the shelf members may, when in lowered position, rest upon and be supported by the tops of the articles supported on the next lower shelf. t I g It will be noted that We have thus provided simple, inexpensive, yet highly eflicient means for storing, displaying and facilitating the self-service of articles. By reason of the Wheeled mounting, the entire stand may be quickly moved from one location to another, this feature being ofparticular importance in those instances wherein it is desired to replenish the articles such as bottled goods housed in the stand. Rather than cluttering up the store by trucking a new supply of bottled goods to the stand, the stand itself may be simply and easily wheeled-to the storage space where bottled goods are kept and after the stand has been refilled it may be wheeled back to its original position.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A stand for display, storage and self-service of articles, said stand comprising a generally rectangularly shaped base having front, rear and side legs, a pair of end walls each including oppositely disposed upstanding front and rear legs and a top leg connecting the front and rear legs at their upper ends, a plurality of vertically spaced side rails secured to and spanning said front and rear legs, a pair of upstanding closely associated laterally spaced rails secured to and spanning the side rails of each of said end walls, and spaced forwardly from the rear legs of the respective end walls, a generally rectangularly shaped rear wall including top, bottom and end legs, means securing said rear wall between the laterally spaced end walls extending upwardy from the base forwardly of the rear rods of the end walls, said means including a plurality of vertically spaced cross rails secured to and spanning the end legs of said rear wall and with the end portions of each of said cross rails terminating in an upturned end disposed beyond the adjacent end legs of the rear wall, the vertical spacing of said cross rails corresponding to the vertical spacing of the side rails of the end walls, said end portions of the cross rails being disposed between said laterally spaced upstanding rails at the underside of corresponding side rails of the end'walls and with their upturned ends detachably fitting against the outer sides of said side rails of the end walls, article supporting means supported by and spanning the front and rear legs of said base, the bottom leg of the rear wall abuttingly engaging and being supported by the said article support means, and means detachably securing the lower ends of the front and rear legs of the end Walls to the base for anchoring the rear and side walls in upstanding relationship with the base.

2. A'stand of the construction defined in claim 1 and wherein the means that detachably secures the lower ends of the front and rear legs of the end walls to the base comprises a loop on the lower endof each of the front and rear legs of the end walls, U-loops having hook-like end portions engaging the side legs of the base, bolts passing transversely through the U-loops and the loops on-the lower ends of the front and rear legs of the end walls, and nuts on-the bolts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 17,489 Clark: June 9, 1857 624,001 Edmeades May 2, 1899 1,817,961 Bouda' Aug. 11, 1931 2,239,483 Cocks Apr. 22, 1941' 2,562,497 Klein Jul 31; 1951 2,637,445 Patterson May 5, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 299,129 GreatBritain Oct. 25, 1928 

